Matt Cole

Historian and commentator

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@JohnRentoul No Catweazle?

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@DanEvansFanPage

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@DanEvansFanPage

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

A thank you to Dan Evans - great player, personality and patriot
https://t.co/ytxqphUtcs

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

It was a great pleasure to add to BBC North West Tonight's introduction to the local election campaign. Legally and politically necessary, this will be a test of the 'big' parties' resilience and the newer ones' realism.

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@lewis_goodall Most MPs will never occupy the offices held by the figures you name here. They need to be able to serve their constituency with commitment and empathy. Going to Oxford or Cambridge won't help them do that better.

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@SashaSwire @WilliamJHague Most MPs will never get near national office but will serve their constituents for decades, in which work a bit of empathy for the area is likely to be an asset. Going to Oxford or Cambridge is proof of nothing in itself.

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@lewis_goodall Most MPs are never going to be national leaders, so familiarity with their constituency is a legitimate basis of choice - one, at least. Going to Oxford or Cambridge is an irrelevance everywhere.

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@MichaelLCrick David Lloyd George's seat wasn't so far from his home. There's a difference between choosing a local representative and training up cabinet ministers, and most MPs will never be the latter, so familiarity with the constituency is a reasonable criterion.

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

I look forward to speaking to the Friends of Lancaster Library next week - details below. My subject is the benefits of looking at Lancaster's history through one smaller but enduring institution - in this case the Gregson Centre. See you there!

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@MichaelLCrick @JohnRentoul @PeterKellner1 I remember getting my copy of the British General Election of 1987 in the late summer of that year. What's taking so long?

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@TTRadioOfficial All Secretaries of State for the last 40 years have called for diversity and choice, and when schools make distinct arrangements to suit their conditions (whilst fulfilling Dept requirements) they are criticised. Let teachers run schools.

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

Today was a great day to visit Crosby, subject of my chapter in @IainDale's book on by-elections, published today. Great book, great beach!

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@ZiaYusufUK Grammar schools *are* state schools.

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

By-election campaigns can be memorable experiences, and I'm delighted to have written a chapter in this book about one of the first, and most significant, I've visited. All my co-contributors bring the same enthusiasm, and recognition for their expertise, to their subjects.

[Iain Dale 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧 ⚒️ @IainDale]

COMING ON 18 SEPTEMBER

British By-Elections 1789-2025 - The 88 By-Election Campaigns That Shaped Our Politics

Preorder a signed copy
https://t.co/fKj4wSF686

Full list of by-elections and essay authors below.

Parliamentary by-election happens when a seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant between general elections, whether the sitting MP dies, resigns, goes bankrupt, is convicted of a crime or is subject to a recall petition. Whatever the circumstances, by-elections have long provided some the most dramatic moments in British parliamentary history.

In this latest volume of political essays, Iain Dale picks the most consequential by-elections of the modern era and presents a series of thoroughly researched, and absorbing essays by some of the finest political writers working today.

Middlesex 1769 Robin Eagles
Co Clare 1828 Richard Gaunt
Preston 1830 Gordon Pentland
Manchester Withington 1867 Peter Kellner
Colchester 1870 Luke Blaxill
Northampton 1884 Simon Barrow
Mid Lanark 1888 Baroness Pauiine Bryan
Oldham 1899 Alex Puffette
Barnard Castle 1903 David Laws
Norwich 1904 Duncan Brack
Colne Valley 1907 Gerard Hetherington
Manchester NW 1908 Pippa Caterall
North East Derbyshire 1914 Gordon Marsden
Merthyr Tydfil 1915 Sir Vernon Bogdanor
Clare East 1917 Richard Grayson
Spen Valley 1919 Roger Gough
Paisley 1920 Hugh Gault
Woolwich East 1921 Nan Sloane
Cardiganshire 1921 Russell Deacon
Newport 1922 Stephen Williams
Mitcham 1923 Lewis Baston
Westminster Abbey 1924 Lord Lexden
Smethwick 1926 James Bird
Westminster St George's 1931 Sir Robert Buckland
Fulham East 1933 T G Otte
Oxford 1938 Simon Heffer
Kinross & West Perthshire 1938 Amy Gray
Bridgwater 1938 Alun Evans
Maldon 1942 Will Timmins
West Derbyshire James Heale
Motherwell & Wishaw 1945 Richard Finlay
Bournemouth 1945 David Hencke
Carmarthen 1957 Roger Awan-Scully
Torrington 1958 Michael McManus
Orpington 1962 Lord Norton
Bristol Souh East 1963 Lee Evans
Kinross & West Perthshire 1963 Andrew Holt
Stratford upon Avon 1963 Scarlett Maguire
Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles 1965 Sir Peter Riddell
Leyton 1965 Richard Johnson
Carmarthen 1966 Sam Blaxland
Kingston upon Hull North 1966 Nick Thomas-Symonds
Hamilton 1967 Mike Russell
Sutton & Cheam 1972 Connor Hand
Rochdale 1972 Alistair Burt
Lincoln 1973 Julia Langdon
Govan 1973 Gerry Hassan
Woolwich West 1975 Amber Whapshott
Walsall N 1976 John Barnes
Workington 1976 Michael Mullaney
Ashfield` 1977 Robert Waller
Grimsby 1977 John Bowers
Garscadden 1978 Mark Peel
Liverpiool Edge Hill 1979 Lord Chris Rennard
Fermanagh & South Tyrone x2 1981 Toby Harnden
Crosby 1981 Matthew Cole
Warrington 1981 Paul Linford
Glasgow Hillhead 1982 Andrew Marr
Bermondsey 1983 Sir John Curtice
Darlington 1983 Francis Beckett
Chesterfield 1984 Greg Rosen
Greenwich 1986 Nigel Fletcher
Govan 1988 Gerry Hassan
Eastbourne 1990 Tim Bale
Eastleigh 1993 Mark Garnett
Christchurch 1993 Michael Crick
Newbury 1993 Elinor Goodman
Dudley W 1994 Lucia Henwood
Winchester 1997 Jack Brown
South Antrim 2000 Richard Bullick
Brent East 2003 Joe Pike
Haltemprice & Howden 2008 Robert Evans
Glasgow East 2008 Lesley Orr
Crewe & Nantwich 2008 Lord Stephen Parkinson
Clacton 2014 Tim Shipman
Richmond Park 2016 Aggie Chambre
Batley & Spen 2016 Mathew Hulbert
Copeland 2017 Chris Whiteside
Hartlepool 2021 Alia Middleton
Batley & Spen 2021 Emma Burnell
Chesham & Amersham 2021 Rosie Campbell
North Shropshire 2021 Corey Froggatt
Southend West 2022 Iain Dale
Mid Bedfordshire 2023 Henry Riley
Selby & Ainsty 2023 Edward Young
Rutherglen 2023 Mark McGeoghegan
Rochdale 2024 Sunder Katwala
Runcorn - 2025 - Harry Horton

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@LucyJayneWhite1 @marksandspencer Were the staff speaking to you, or to each other? And could they speak English clearly when you spoke to them?

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@malstar79 Over 30 goals a year at Rovers - 20 at NUFC. The stats don't lie. Why neglect his real prime?

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@DanClough87 True that. 32 goals a year at Rovers vs 20 at NUFC. Poor neglect of his real prime.

[Matt Cole @DrMRCole]

@90sfootball Over 32 goals a year at Blackburn Rovers; just over 20 at NUFC. Shame not to recognise Rovers as part of the prime.